pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Carl Rakosi
Carl Rakosi (November 6, 1903 - June 25, 2004) was an American poet, the last surviving member of the original group of Objectivist poets. He published and performed his poetry well into his 90s. Life Youth Rakosi was born in Berlin, Germany, and lived there and in Hungary until 1910, when he moved to the United States to live with his father and stepmother. His father was a jeweler and watchmaker in Chicago and later in Gary, Indiana. The family lived in semi-poverty but contrived to send him to the University of Chicago and then to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. During his time studying at the university level, he started writing poetry. On graduating, he worked for a time as a social worker, then returned to college to study psychology. At this time, he changed his name to Callman Rawley because he felt he stood a better chance of being employed if he had a more American-sounding name. After a spell as a psychologist and teacher, he returned to social work for the rest of his working life. Early writings At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Rakosi edited the Wisconsin Literary Magazine. His own poetry at this stage was influenced by W.B. Yeats, Wallace Stevens, and E.E. Cummings. He also began reading William Carlos Williams and T.S. Eliot. By 1925, he was publishing poems in The Little Review and The Nation. Pound and the Objectivists By the late 1920s, Rakosi was in correspondence with Ezra Pound, who prompted Louis Zukofsky to contact him. This led to Rakosi's inclusion in the Objectivist issue of Poetry and in the Objectivist Anthology. Rakosi himself had reservations about the Objectivist tag, feeling that the poets involved were too different from each other to form a group in any meaningful sense of the word. He did, however, especially admire the work of Charles Reznikoff. Later career Like a number of his fellow Objectivists, Rakosi abandoned poetry in the 1940s. After his 1941 Selected Poems he dedicated himself to social work and apparently neither read nor wrote any poetry for the next 25 years. A letter from English poet Andrew Crozier about his early poetry was the trigger that started Rakosi writing again. His 1st book in 26 years, Amulet, was published by New Directions Publishing in 1967, and his Collected Poems ''by the National Poetry Foundation in 1986.. These were followed by several more volumes. He also gave readings across the United States and Europe. In early November 2003, Rakosi celebrated his 100th birthday with friends at the San Francisco Public Library. Upon his death [[Jacket (magazine)|''Jacket Magazine]] editor John Tranter observed the following: :Carl Rakosi died on Friday afternoon June 25 at the age of 100, after a series of strokes, in his home in San Francisco. My wife Lyn and I were passing through California in November 2003, and we stopped by to have a coffee with Carl at his home in Sunset. By a lucky coincidence, it happened to be his 100th birthday. He was, as always, kind, thoughtful, bright and alert, and as sharp as a pin. We felt privileged to know him. Publications Poetry *''Selected Poems''. Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1941. *''Amulet''. New York: New Directions, 1967. *''Ere Voice''. New York: New Directions, 1971. *''Ex Cranium, Night''. Los Angeles, CA: Black Sparrow, 1975. *''My Experiences in Parnassus''. Santa Barbara, CA: Black Sparrow, 1977. *''Droles de Journal''. West Bank, IA: Toothpaste Press, 1981. *''History: A sequence of poems''. London: Oasis, 1981. *''Spiritus, I''. Durham, NC: Pig, 1983. *''Meditation''. Madison, WI: Chax Press for Woodland Pattern Book Center, 1985. *''The Collected Poems of Carl Rakosi''. Orono, ME: National Poetry Foundation, 1986. *''The Experiment with a Rat''. Mill Valley, CA: Winston Network, 1987. *''I've Never Had a Good Idea''. Middlebury, VT: Friends of Middlebury College Library, 1989. *''The Beasts'' (with Margery Cantor). Margery Cantor & Friends, 1994. *''Eight Songs and Meditations''. East Holden, ME: Backwoods Broadsides, 1995. * Poems, 1923-1941. Los Angeles, CA: Sun & Moon Press, 1995. *''The Earth Suite''. Buckfastleigh, South Devonshire, UK: Etruscan Press, 1997. *''Ballad of the Diminished''. Boulder, CO: Kavyayantra Press, 1998. *''Letting the Spirit Out''. Berkeley, CA: Moe's Books, 1998. Prose *''Collected Prose''. Orono, ME: National Poetry Foundation, 1983. Collected Editions *''The Old Poet’s Tale: Collected works''. Buckfastleigh, South Devonshire, UK: Etruscan Books, 1999. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Carol Rakosi, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 6, 2013. See also *Objectivist poets *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *Carl Rakosi 1903-2004 at the Poetry Foundation *Additional Poems by Carl Rakosi ;Prose *Selected Prose by Carl Rakosi ;Audio / video *Carl Rakosi at YouTube *Carl Rakosi Reading and Interview on KPFA's Ode To Gravity, 13 May 1971 (at Internet Archive) ;Books *Carl Rakosi at Amazon.com ;About *Carl Rakosi (1903-2004) at Modern American Poetry. *Obituary in The Guardian, UK *Carl Rakosi feature at Jacket Magazine includes Rakosi in conversation with Tom Devaney & Olivier Brossard; link to audio recordings at University of Pennsylvania, and poems, dedications & remembrances from Jane Augustine, Robert Creeley, Laurie Duggan, Michael Heller and Kent Johnson ;Etc. *The Carl Rakosi Papers * "Add-Verse" a poetry-photo-video project Rakosi participated in Category:1903 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Objectivist poets Category:American centenarians Category:American poets Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Category:Jewish American writers Category:Jewish poets